Sekine Family
Frank Toranosuke Sekine [1914 – 1990]
Mary (Josephine) Yoshiye Sekine (nee Kato) [1912 – 1979]
Frank Toranosuke Sekine was born on July 6, 1914, in Vancouver, to Yugoro and Naka (nee Oya). Mary Yoshie Sekine (nee Kato) was born on April 10, 1912 (some documents also indicate 1914), in Lynn Valley, North Vancouver, BC, to Tosaku and Naka (nee Iwasaki). Frank and Mary married on July 12,1938, in Vancouver, BC.
Both Frank and Mary’s parents were among the early Japanese Canadian settlers in British Columbia, coming before or close to 1900. Both families were influential in the pioneer Japanese Canadian community on the coast.
Bay Farm Kindergarten Bunnies, June 1944. Eleanor is in the 3rd row, 4th from left. P-14322.
Frank was a mill hand employed by the Powell Lumber Company, Vancouver. Frank married Mary Kato on July 12,1938, in Vancouver. Their only child, Eleanor Takako, was born in 1939. The family were forced to relocate to Slocan Extension/Bay Farm, BC, in 1942. Frank was interned for a short time in a work camp at Cambie, between Revelstoke and Sicamous. In the late 1940s, he found a job at a small sawmill owned and operated by the Woosley family in Albert Canyon, and Mary and Eleanor joined him there.
The family moved to Revelstoke around 1951 and lived on 319 3rd Street East. Likely, Frank worked at the Canadian Pacific Railway and at a local sawmill. Eleanor went to high school and graduated in Revelstoke. After graduating from high school, she went to university and became a teacher. She came back to Revelstoke to do a practicum in the Selkirk School Grade 2 class in 1957 – 1958.
The Sekine family were active in the Japanese Canadian Citizens Association in Revelstoke, and Frank often played the part of Santa Claus at the club’s Christmas parties.
Mary passed away on June 9, 1979, in Revelstoke, at the age of 67. Frank passed away on July 20, 1990, in Port Moody, BC, at the age of 76.
Akira Ren, Tosaku Kato, Mary Sekine, Eleanor Sekine, and Naka Kato, ca. 1940. P-14320.
Frank and baby Eleanor, 2 months old, 1939. P-14315.
Mary and baby Eleanor sit beside a display of Japanese dolls displayed for Hinamatsuri, Girls’ Day, 1939. P-14316.
Eleanor Sekine, age 11, at Albert Canyon Station, June 1949. P-14327.